Had Mississippi State held on for 10 seconds longer on the Plains a few weeks ago, we’d be talking about a 3-1 team that has found its quarterback and could be poised for Dan Mullen’s latest surprising surge out of the cellar of the SEC West.

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But instead, Auburn’s Nick Marshall found C.J. Uzomah in the corner of the end zone for the latest chapter in the collection of kicks in the gut that is the history of Mississippi State football.

Sorry Kewilyn.

At 2-2 and 0-1 in the SEC, the Bulldogs find themselves in a familiar spot. Winless in the SEC with a top-10 team set to invade the Cowbell paradise that is Davis Wade Stadium.

They’ll also find themselves in another familiar spot if the heavily favored Tigers triumph Saturday night.

That’s because LSU has beaten Mississippi State 13 straight times, rendering the Bulldogs winless versus the Tigers in the 21st century.

If you’re wondering where that ranks among the longest win streaks against a particular opponent in college football history, Les Miles would need to win 30 more times, and he would match Norte Dame’s 43 straight over Navy as he approaches his 90th birthday.

Probably not gonna happen for Miles or whoever replaces him at the helm of LSU.

But it’s an impressive streak, and it speaks to consistent level of success LSU has achieved in both the Miles and Nick Saban eras.

So while you’re cheering for No. 14 Saturday night, remember that this isn’t the same State team that has been a walkover for LSU so many times in the 2000s.

Look past the Bulldogs’ 2-1, 0-1 start and their mediocre recent seasons and notice how much Dan Mullen has built up this program since taking over in 2009.

A historically dead team that hasn’t won a conference title since 1941 is respectable. And there’s something to be said for that.

You can only do so much in some places, and as they say in some part of the south, “You can’t put lipstick on a pig.”

It certainly appears that there’s a glass ceiling that Mullen, nor any coach, simply can’t break in Starkville. But the former Urban Meyer assistant has made a couple cracks in that proverbial glass, and he’s got the program at a higher level than anyone thought possible.

Four or five wins may be State’s ceiling this year.

And anybody who wants to fire Mullen after this season is crazy.

Remember when they were 7-0 last year?

The rest is what you would call history, or better yet, life in the SEC West.

And State fans, better than anyone else, should know what the life is like all too well.